This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Navicular Disease / Chronic Heel Pain SynDrOme »
  Discussion on Painful shoeing?
Author Message
Member:
Suzeb

Posted on Saturday, Aug 2, 2003 - 9:46 am:

Hello Dr O and all,

I have a 13 year old quarter horse, who does have navicular synDrOme. In the past he has been shod with Natural Balance shoes and pads with frog support. There was also some stuff squirted in between the pad and the sole for more support. While this application seemed to help somewhat it was still a very painful process. After two resets with these shoes, we decided to remove the pads as we felt they were creating more pressure on the sole. This seemed to give him more relief when the pads were removed and just the shoes applied. This worked for awhile, but he still seemed to be regressing. Last year a decision was made to remove these shoes for the winter and just trim lightly to see how things go. The winter was very cold and the ground very frozen and hard and he seemed to be ouchy in this environment. This spring we tried a different approach and applied hand forged shoes with a wedged heel. The difference was a near miracle. They are hot seated to alleviate sole pressure. The only downfall to this is that I have to have my horse tranquilized in order to get his shoes on. He is very sensitive to the nailing on process. The nails are only put in the front part of the shoe (3 nails per side). Does anyone have this problem with their navicular horses, very ouchy when shoes are being nailed on? I have had him on "Farrier's Formula" for the past 8 months at the treatment level, which I suppose is helping. He has always had a nice shiny coat and good hard hooves, they just weren't supporting him in the right place. Any ideas? As much as I don't want to tranquilize him at each reset, I also don't want to have my farrier maimed or killed. Hope you can help.
Susan B.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Aug 3, 2003 - 9:45 am:

Have you tried big doses of bute the night before and morning of the shoeing?

I have seen several horses that behaved this way who did not have foot pain. An interesting experiment might be to block the foot to see if you still get the same reaction, indicating a behavioral problem. Either way correction comes from rewarding good behavior, discouraging bad behavior and doing it in a way that the horse can understand. We use just enough tranquiler to slow the horse a bit and a lip chain: while behaving properly tiny treats are offered every 10 to 20 seconds. When misbehaving the lip chain is tightened and if he rears, jerked. This has worked for us, but these horses did not have foot pain.
DrO
Member:
Suzeb

Posted on Sunday, Aug 3, 2003 - 11:39 am:

No, I have not tried large doses of bute. He is a 15.3hand 1000 to 1100lb quarter horse. He has been on a low dose of Bute 1gm from time to time as part of his management for this synDrOme as well as bone spavin in his hock. He hasn't had any for 7 weeks now as he is responding well to his shoes. What would you consider a big dose? I think the maximum he can have in one day is 4gms. The foot block seems like a good avenue to explore to see if we get the same reaction. He will stand good for the farrier when he is just having his feet trimmed, but it's the nailing on and hot seating process that scares, hurts him. Is there a difference in tranquilizers used? I am not sure of the cocktail my vet uses, but I will ask her what it is. Is a lip chain the same as a twitch? I would like to feel that Laser is on the road to recovery with better shoeing and a fusing lower hock joint (bone spavin). We have been treating these pathologies for over a year and a half and have come a long way with this big guy. Thanks for answers to my questions. The farrier is coming out next week for a reset and trim and it would be interesting to note if Laser can handle the shoeing without the tranquilizer and just the nerve blocks. Susan B.
Member:
Ponylynn

Posted on Sunday, Aug 3, 2003 - 3:05 pm:

I had a horse who hated hearing the nailing, we gave him ace and it helped some, but stuffing his ears with cotton and giving him ace did the trick. Give it a try, can't hurt, might help.
Member:
Sefiroth

Posted on Monday, Aug 4, 2003 - 8:08 pm:

How often has he been hot seated? I had a 25 yr old perfect gentleman morgan who had never been hot seated until I got him. The smell of the burning hoof made him act up at first. After about 4-5 shoeings though he did get used to it. You might also want to try a fan set up to blow the smell of the hoof burning away. Does the horse act up when the shoes are nailed on if they havent been hot set? Maybe the farrier is burning the feet too much... Maybe you can ask him not to hot set the next time maybe to see if it is the nailing or the burning hoof that's making Laser act up?

~Sharon
Member:
Suzeb

Posted on Saturday, Aug 9, 2003 - 11:35 am:

Oh Happy Day!
Farrier was out to reset Laser's shoes. I did not have time to give him Bute and get the Vet out for tranq or foot blocks as you suggested Dr. O.
This was a scheduling problem with the Farrier, so he was aware of pain/behaviour issues. Laser stood quite well for the removal of his shoes and his trim. His shoes were reset without hotseating this time and the farrier was able to nail them on without Laser pulling away. In fact he seemed quite relaxed about the whole ordeal (DrOpped penis). Go figure. In answer to your questions Sharon, yes, he did act up with the nailing and the hot seating in the past, so I was concerned that we were still dealing with sore feet. The farrier may have to hot seat if the ground turns wet and mucky again. His hooves have been very hard lately because the ground is hard and dry, so maybe that was a factor in the non reaction to shoeing. Laser has also been on Farrier's Formula at the treatment level for 8 months. We are keeping our fingers and hooves crossed that the farrier can do his job again without sedatives or pain killers, for the horse of course. I will post again at next reset. Cheers Susan B.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC